


puttin my defenses up (cause i don't wanna fall in love)

by ladyofdecember



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Angst and Humor, Childhood Friends, Eventual Romance, Future Fic, Heartbreak, Heavy Angst, M/M, Mentions of Professor Membrane, Normal Life, Office Work, References to Depression
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2020-07-30 13:03:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20097667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyofdecember/pseuds/ladyofdecember
Summary: Disappearing when they're still teens, Zim suddenly stumbles back into Dib's life nine years later.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You make me glow,  
But I cover up, won't let it show,  
So I'm puttin' my defenses up  
'Cause I don't wanna fall in love  
If I ever did that, I think I'd have a heart attack  
\--Heart Attack by Demi Lovato

Lightning flashed brightly outside the window of the Membrane siblings, though both were too distracted to really even notice the impending storm on it's way.

Gaz sat slumped in her seat on the sofa, barely paying any attention to the reality show on the TV. She held in her hands a game system as well and her eyes darting between the two at random intervals.

In the kitchen, her older brother stood staring into the vastness of the refrigerator, most of the shelves empty except of condiments. He sighed in frustration, shutting the door and deciding to just have a glass of water. 

It hadn't been that long since they'd gone to the store and yet they always seemed to be running out of food. He blamed his sister, she was the one who was home the most, what with his full time job keeping him busy.

"Gaz!" He called over his shoulder, only half expecting an answer in return.

Surprisingly, she responded, even getting up from her seat to join him in the kitchen. "What? I'm almost past this final level."

Dib regarded her, took in the way her eyes refused to leave the tiny screen. He sighed again. "There's no food here."

"So order a pizza."

"With what money?" He scoffed. "Are you gonna cough up some for once?"

Gaz paused her game and stared at him for a long moment. Her gaze was so intense, he was certain she was going to pounce on him or give him one good hit to the jaw. When she turned and grabbed her bag from the kitchen table, he flinched.

Digging out what she assumed was enough cash for both of them, she shoved the money into his palm and immediately headed back to the couch with her game. "Get me a medium. I'm not sharing with you. Pineapple is gross."

"Um, it's delicious, actually." He retorted and pulled out his phone to put in an order for them.

The storm outside finally unloaded on the town, buckets of rain beginning to pour down onto the roof of the house, the wind picking up in a frightening fashion.

"Jesus... " Dib muttered as he lifted a blind to look outside into the darkness. He wondered just how long delivery would take in a storm like this and continued submitting the order.

...

The ship was rickety, having seen better times and Zim was sure that without major repairs, this would be the last time it'd be able to enter a planet's atmosphere.

Setting down the cruiser in it's normal spot in the woods, the Irken was suddenly struck by his surroundings. If the GPS coordinates were correct, then he'd landed in the middle of the woods near the elementary skool but upon closer inspection, these could hardly be considered woods at all.

Zim leapt out of the voot cruiser and took a look around. Many of the trees used to camouflage his arrivals and departures before had been removed and more skool type buildings had seemed to be built in their place. The Irken narrowed his red eyes in suspicion. Why had things changed so drastically in such a short amount of time?

Pulling out his control pad, Zim quickly entered some information, attempting to specify the current terrestrial time and date. The Irken had only been gone a few months, hadn't he?

His eyes scanning over the information from his tablet, he stared in shock at the data, even letting out an enraged shriek.

According to his computer, he had been gone from Earth's terrestrial atmosphere for 3,285 Earth days. That was 108 of the dirt people's so called "months" or..., Zim swallowed nervously, nine Earth years.

The Irken stared down at the shiny screen in his hand and at the reflection of the full moon that was above him. As the full realization came over him, a brisk rain began to fall from the clouds above, the wind picking up to maneuver them and obscure the moonlight entirely.

Zim cursed loudly at the sudden weather change and hurried back to his ship. Punching in the command codes to conceal the ship in invisibility, he quickly reached around to his PAK to ignite his protective force field to guard against the rain.

Having shut down the base and hidden it from all outside prying eyes, including that of extraterrestrial, it would require Zim's personal, manual override. He just had to make it there quietly, under the cover of darkness.

As the Irken made his way towards the clearing of trees, towards the numerous new skool buildings, he paused in his pursuit, reevaluating his plan.

If it had been this long, if the computer were correct, what did that mean for The-Dib? The dirt child and he had never been on friendly terms but their ongoing battle and righteous fights were something to be reckoned with. 

He had far too much pride to ever admit any sort of feelings for the dirt creature and it wasn't as if Irkens needed things or creatures or anyone. Irkens were strong. Irkens were...

Zim shook his head, that line of thinking threatening to distract him from his true mission, the most important thing right now. He continued creeping along amongst the shadows of the night, the rain still pouring down heavily from above and landing lightly across his helmet. 

The night was black and with barely any cars on the road to shine their lights and catch his silhouette, he didn't bother to conceal his eyes or antennae. No one would be out this late to see him. Or would they?

Things hadn't changed too drastically in the time since he'd been gone though there were a few houses on the street leading to The-Dib's that seemed different. Colors seemed dimmer, structures a bit more worn than he'd remembered.

As he rounded the final street corner, Zim paused as he stared down the long neighborhood street towards the illuminated two story home down the block. Cocking his head to the side, the alien wondered just what he would find upon his arrival, how much things had changed?

…

The pizza having arrived, the Membrane siblings sat on opposite sides of the couch each enjoying a slice of their respective pizzas. They stared at the TV quietly, neither really reacting much to the display of humans on trying their best to win over the talent judges whose adoration they were competing for.

Dib finished off his last slice and set the ceramic plate down on the coffee table, the rattling noise filling the room. “This show is stupid! How can you watch this?”

He turned to glance at his sister who was staring at the glow of the TV in silence as she munched on her own pizza. She grunted in response, not even glancing his way.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, picking up his phone to try to find some kind of amusement online. Not a moment later, a large thunderclap sounded from right outside the living room window and their entire house suddenly went dark.

Gaz sat up straight and discarded her plate of pizza on the table as well. She glared at the now dark screen before them and let out a frustrated scream. “Fucking power company! Didn't you pay the bill?!” She glared at her brother who was already nervously looking around the room.

“Yes!” He returned her glare with ease. “How could I not? I'm the only one of us with a job! You just sit here all day and-”

“I don't just sit here! I'll have you know-”

They began to bicker in the darkness of their living room, the house filled with silence now that the electricity to the home and the entire block was out. Lightning flashed, illuminating their angry faces as they continued shouting, another large burst of thunder drowning out their voices.

Finally, the two calmed down, each glaring at the darkened TV set in resignation.

“Well, are you going to do something about it?” Gaz grumbled as she slouched further down in her seat.

Dib gaped at her. “What do you want me to do? The power's probably out in the whole neighborhood! Hello? There's a storm outside.”

Picking up her gaming system, Gaz began a new game, effectively ignoring her brother entirely.

Dib continued sitting in his seat for only a moment more, realizing the night would be ruined if they didn't get the power back on soon. He may as well just go to bed.

Standing up, he glanced out the window towards the street and noticed most of the houses were also darkened like their own. Yep, it was definitely a blackout.

He spared another glance to his sister and seeing she was already immersed in a new game, decided to head to the kitchen to put his plate in the sink.

Carefully making his way towards the kitchen, Dib quickly found his eyes adjusting to the lack of light and it getting a little easier not to stumble into things. 

Stacking his cyan colored plate on top of the other dishes in the sink, he made a mental note to gripe at Gaz. It was her turn to do the dishes and had been for over a week now. He didn't see why he always had to clean up around here.

Dib peered out the kitchen window, trying to see any damage to the power lines and just how bad it was coming down with a sudden flash of lighting illuminated the entire kitchen. Suddenly, staring back through the window at him was a crazed looking figure, all teeth and big, shiny, ruby eyes. 

Dib screamed for his life, falling back away from the sink and nearly busting his head on the counter top.

Gaz griped from the other room. “What?!”

Staring up at the window, Dib could only helplessly try to work his mouth to form words to call back to her the cause of his panic.

On the other side of the glass, Zim meekly knocked on the window and said, “Dib-stink, you must open the window for Zim! This is important!”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Come on and break me down  
I'll let you ruin my day  
Flow through my veins  
I need a fix  
Bitter and sick
> 
> Bitter and sicker than  
Love, love, love"  
\--Bitter And Sick by One Two

Nine Years Ago

Rain pounded along the pavement as he ran, the water making the normally dull cement a shiny brown color, reflecting the colors all around him. 

He ran and he ran, huffing, passing through the crowd in the middle of town square without a second glance. The rain coat covering him wasn't doing a very good job, with droplets of water leaking down his wrists and arms, burning his too delicate skin.

People in the square seemed to barely take notice of him, a common theme of his existence it seemed, something he had grown to both cherish and loathe.

Zim turned a corner too quickly and not noticing the large pooling water near the curb, ran straight through it, the water sloshing up and around him without mercy. He kept his quick pace however, ignoring the burning sensations on his legs nearing his ankles or at least what a simpler, more dirt like creature would consider ankles.

He hadn't meant to say it, hadn't meant to drive this wedge between them in this way but what could he do? It was true. There was no point to the two of them discussing their people's differences, eventually all talks fell apart. The so-called "diplomacy" The-Dib's people were so fond of exercising was nothing more than a useless attempt at peace. Peace was something simpletons used to explain away their meager existence. They were far too lackadaisical to reach the heights of technological advancement that the Irkens had and they always would be.

“Well, why not? Why does it always have to be about conquering with your leaders? Why can't they settle and just be happy with all they've got? It's really that important to take over the galaxy?” Dib had said exasperated, throwing his hands up in the air and rolling his eyes. 

Zim had looked at him, really looked at him when he'd said that and for the first time, realized how different they truly were. There was nothing tying them together, nothing but the hopeless mediocrity of the human's life, that he filled with the relentless pursuing of the supernatural, a pursuit he might add, constantly overlooked by the teen's own peers.

It wasn't like he hadn't been paying attention before. In fact, it'd given him nothing but joy to see the boy chase after Bigfeets or ghostly beings that just didn't exist. But everything about him now just seemed so... strange to him.

Looking down at his combat boots, he paused deep in thought, wondering just what was the point of him remaining on a planet when be no longer had any mission or obligation to remain. Looking back up at the teen, he sighed, finally realizing that his own life's ambition had been pointless as well and trying to turn losing his reason for being into a positive lesson was ultimately fruitless.

“Dib-stink. You're just a puny human. Zim wouldn't expect you to understand.” And with that, he turned and began marching away, Dib still shouting angrily from behind him.

As the gray sky above began to open up, drops of the hellish Earth “water” began to fall all around him. Realizing he hadn't anticipated being outside much before leaving the base that day, he hadn't stocked up on any paste. Breaking into a run, the Irken found himself growing even more outraged as each second ticked by.

The Dib-stink was so foolish and naive. He had no foresight to see why his people should work towards technological advancement, why it'd be in the dirt planet's best interests to work together and try to improve their lot in the universe. He didn't get it and he probably never would.

Zim was tired of this life. As he reached his base finally, the downpour of rain having nearly soaked through his uniform and scalded his delicate skin, the Irken made a decision.

He was returning back to Irk to seek out answers for his ultimate mission. There had to be another way for him to get back in to The Tallests' good graces. He couldn't survive another night here on this backwater planet surrounded by dirt people.

He needed more.

…

Present Day

It was quiet in the Membrane home, the sound of the pattering of raindrops on the window pane trailing throughout the living room. Dib sat on the far end of the sofa, as far away as he could get from Zim perched on the other side. Gaz who was now keenly studying the alien sat in the arm chair on the right, unable to break away her gaze for even a moment.

No one was talking and though the power had come back on allowing light to fill the room, the other two weren't looking at each other.

Zim pursed his would-be lips as though he were lost in thought. Dib just looked so angry.

"So what, you're just suddenly back now all of a sudden?" Came Gaz' loud, clear voice echoing through the room and startling them both out of the silence.

Zim turned to gaze upon her evenly. She'd changed quite a bit. Her hair was dyed a dark cappuccino like brown and had grown out quite a bit. She was dressed in rather dark colors as well which he supposed wasn't all that different. But she was so tall now! They both were. 

He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously and ground out. "You seem different, Dib-sister. Are you in disguise?"

She looked at him coolly and then reached for the TV remote again to turn her program back on. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Who do you hide from?" He pressed urgently until Dib heaved a big sigh from beside him, pulling his attention back there.

The-Dib had changed in appearance as well and the Irken was starting to think it was all a big conspiracy. He couldn't possibly have been gone that long and yet his instruments were clear. 

The man was taller and though his hair was the exact same, he'd added some sort of decoration to his right ear. Three black hoops lay atop now on the outer ridge. Zim squinted at them in suspicion until The-Dib interrupted his thoughts.

"Look uh, I don't care why you're here. I don't care where you were. Will you just get out of my house please?"

"Our house." Gaz corrected without taking her eyes off the screen.

Dib glared at her and then retrained the look into Zim. "Seriously. Just go."

Heading in to the kitchen again, the man rolled his eyes as he heard the Irken quickly follow behind him.

"Dib-thing, what Earth year is it? It can't possibly be what my readers are stating. There has to be some error. Zim was only gone for three of your Earth months."

Dib poured himself a glass of water, not looking at the alien. "I don't know what you're talking about and I really don't care."

"The YEAR! Zim left on... erm, um, a very important assignment back to his Tallest! Yes! But it only should have taken a few of your months. Not Earth years! There must have been some sort of time hole!"

Finishing the glass of cold water, Dib locked eyes with the Irken finally and set the glass down on the counter. The Irken stared up at him, the size difference between them enormous. Zim stared unblinkingly, waiting for some sort of response to his urgent inquiry. The human just stood there however, staring at the alien until so much time had passed, Zim was sure that the boy hadn't even heard his question.

Dib shifted his weight then, crossing his arms up and over his t-shirt clad chest and narrowed his eyes. "First of all, yes, you were gone several years, not months. Nine years to be exact... not that I was counting! Second, I highly doubt your going back to your home planet was important in any way."

Zim straightened up and began to interrupt in anger but alas, Dib continued his response.

"Third! The fact that you'd think I'd care after all this time about... about any of this is... it's laughable, really. I mean, honestly? I'm kind of shocked to see you here now. Like... what is it that you want exactly?" Dib narrowed his eyes as he stared down the Irken, a look of pure irritation covering his face.

Zim shifted uncomfortably, staring at the man as he struggled to come up with an answer to the question. He had left initially in order to beg his Tallest for a new mission, something greater to do than just be exiled on the Earth. But while he had become bored with the humdrum of day to day life and annoyed with The-Dib's, he hadn't meant to stay away for so long. 

His plan having failed to gain a new occupation from the Tallest, he'd actually discovered something even more sinister.

Their response had been to laugh at him mercilessly, much to his chagrin. They'd told him to go back to Dirt or wherever it was he'd been and not to bother them again. He'd been banned from The Massive and any and all other Tallest fleet ships. They simply didn't want to hear from him any further. And they really seemed to mean it this time.

He'd left with his head down, trying not to focus on the intensity with which they'd cruelly discarded him and his former accomplishments to the republic.

Zim stared at the human, not having a single thing to say in response to his question, too caught up in the memory of his leader's cruelty towards him, his regret in leaving to journey back there in the first place. Now everything was different. He'd literally been gone for years.

What had he done?

The raven haired man pushed off the counter to leave the kitchen but before he could, the alien stepped forward suddenly and blocked his path. With a sudden burst of energy, Zim remembered one last important piece of information about his visit back on Irk.

He had a warning for them. It seemed The Tallest had no wish to continue any sort of relationship with him, but they were very interested in continuing their universe wide invasion.

"Dib-thing, Zim is here to warn you! The Earth is being invaded!!"

Dib rolled his eyes and glared down at the Irken. "Well yeah, you're trying to blow us up or subjugate us, remember? Or you were. Are we all done with all that now?" He mocked him in a sugary sweet voice and moved to exit to the living room once more. "Is that what you went to talk to your leaders about? Your fake mission?"

Zim latched himself to the back of Dib's gray t-shirt with both claws, causing him to cry out in surprise. He spun the man around. "LISTEN TO ZIM!! I intercepted a message to The Tallests' computer and in it were their plans for an entirely new operation. Do you understand?! The Earth is marked on the new plan for destruction!"

Dib shoved the alien away and looked at him coolly. "And why the hell should I believe anything you say? Besides, it's probably just another trick they're playing on you. Remember? They don't care about you or the Earth!"

"This is real, Dib-thing! You must listen to ZIM!" The Irken tried to plead with the man, his eyes then moving past him to glance at Gaz who kept turning up the volume to the TV.

"Look, get out of my house! It's late and I have work tomorrow!" He glared at the alien, pointing toward the door.

The Irken grinned and stepped forward towards him. "Yes! Good, yes, we will work on the plans to hack into the system. And then Zim will show you he is right!"

"No, I have work at my job? My actual job that I have. You know, something actually important than just running around talking about alien theories and... and... Irken civilization! You wouldn't know anything about this. So just... get out of my house!"

"Our house!" Gaz corrected again leading Dib to roll his eyes once more.

"Dib-thing! I do not think you realize the importance of what Zim is telling you. Allow me to explain it to your tiny, pitiful, meat brain-"

"I told you, I don't want to hear it! I don't care! I'm not... into the paranormal stuff anymore! And I... I don't care about whatever it is you're doing or... you're trying to get me to believe. It's not gonna work. I've moved on from all this."

"It is not what Zim is doing! It is The Tallest! Surely, you-"

Dib slammed his palm against the wall of the living room. "That's enough! Just stop it, Zim!"

The Irken stared at him in confusion.

"That's not... it's not like that anymore. This is... this is my life now. You were gone a long time, okay? And, whatever, I know you don't care, I get it. Just... listen to my words. I don't care either."

As the two stared at each other silently, Zim took a step forward towards the human. "Dib-thing, you don't understand! You-"

"No, you don't understand. You're just the same as you were before. This is life here on this planet. You get up in the morning, you drag yourself to work where you sit for eight hours every day wasting time doing tasks that are meaningless at best and harmful to the planet at worst. Then you drive home in traffic and find some sort of energy to make food before you crawl into bed just to do it all over again tomorrow. That's life."

Dib ran a hand over his face, clearly worn out and feeling downtrodden by the alien's arrival suddenly back in their lives. Gaz stared at her brother's explosive rant in shock from her place on the couch. She'd muted the TV.

Dib looked at the alien in his bright, red eyes and sighed. "That's humanity and for some reason all those years ago, you chose to come here and study us. Well, this is it! I'm sorry to say! You were right before. We are just... dirt creatures. There's no point to any of this. So congratulations. You win again.” He turned to go and head up the stairs before pausing with one last revelation coming to mind. He turned to look down at him and Gaz who was sitting silently still on the couch,

“And... if they wanna come blow us up, I welcome it. Honestly, I... You come back here after almost a decade and I'm suddenly supposed to, what? Jump on board with your bullshit and care again? Sorry, but I can't. I've got grown up problems now."

Zim stared up at his friend, a worried look crossing over his features at the state of the human.

Shaking his head in exhaustion, Dib turned again to head up the stairs. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed. Just do me a favor? Go away." He uttered as he climbed the stairs, not giving him another look.

Staring at the empty staircase, Zim couldn't believe how unwilling the Dib-stink was to even discuss the issue with him. Normally, he'd be all about trying to thwart his people but now, things had seemingly changed drastically.

Gaz glanced at the Irken, and slowly got to her feet. She patted him on the shoulder, causing him to look up at her once more. 

How different she looked now. Her amber eyes peaked out through her dark brown bangs as she gave him a small smile, too gentle to actually be from Gazlene Membrane. It was off putting to say the least. "It's nice to see you again but did you really think coming back here would be a good idea?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, narrowing his red eyes suspiciously.

She glanced at the stairs and then back at the alien and shrugged. "He was pissed when you left. For a while, he kinda watched your house kinda obsessively. You know, just like his normal self. And then, after a year or two, he kinda... just gave up. I mean, can you blame him? That's a long time to wait for someone to come back. He assumed you just went back to your planet and gave up on the Earth." Her eyes flicked back towards the stairs to check if her brother was listening before looking back at him. “Isn't that what happened?”

Zim stared at the darkened staircase and then looked back at the Dib-sister. "Zim... was only gone for a few months. Only... meant to be... "

Gaz shrugged again and sat back down to unmute her show, her eyes now glued to the screen, seemingly apathetic to the Irken's worry. "Just... don't expect to win him back over. Pretty sure that ship has sailed."

The alien glanced between her and the stairs in quick succession, obviously very confused. "Ship? What ship? TAK's ship?!"

She glanced back up at him tiredly, wishing he'd get out of her house. "It's just an expression."


	3. Chapter 3

Dib stared wearily at his monitor, the reflection of his face shown in the screen until he jolted the computer awake with a shake of his mouse. In his reflection's place now shown a white screen complete with hundreds of customers' personal information on a spreadsheet.

He yawned a bit and reached for his travel mug of coffee just as his desk phone began to ring. 

Dib sighed and answered the call, "Thank you for calling Infospect Global, how may I help you?"

"Dib-thing! Come downstairs immediately! Zim has something to show you!"

His eyes narrowed behind his glasses at the familiar voice on the other side of the line. Despite being both on the phone and hidden behind four cubical walls, the man quickly looked around him for anyone listening to the conversation before responding. "Zim?! How did you get this number? How dare you call me here! I'm hanging up-"

"Dib-thing! Zim NEEDS you to come outside!"

"I don't care what you need! I'm at work! I'm busy! And I told you to leave me alone!" He slammed the phone down and began rubbing his eyes beneath his glasses in frustration.

Glancing up, he noticed his cubicle neighbor staring at him quizzically from across the aisle and he smiled sheepishly as his phone began to ring again.

He stared at it in horror, not knowing if it were a customer or just the green skinned alien again. He took a deep breath and answered it cautiously. "Thank you for calling Infospect Global, how may I help you?"

"Dib-thing, do not hang up on Zim again!"

"Look," he tried to muffle his voice a little so his co-workers wouldn't hear. "I'm not coming downstairs. Forget this number and forget me. I'm not helping you with whatever stupid thing you've got going on. I'm busy!"

He hung up the phone again, certain that would take care of it. The Irken could go bug his sister or some other lowly, pathetic human.

He scoffed at the idea of the alien coming back after all these years to bug him. As if he actually cared about anything the Irken was doing now! It was ridiculous.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the thoughts, he turned to continue his work, realizing he had only a handful of hours left in the day and soooo many claims to get processed.

…

It wasn't long before Dib was startled out of his thoughts by the Irken's instantly recognizable laugh and sharp tone of voice. He quickly stood up from his seat and urgently peered over his cubicle walls. There was Zim! He was conversing with some girl at the end of the hallway and they were laughing together. Dib quickly marched over to the two, intent on getting on getting him out of his office as soon as possible.

“Yes, yes, you see, Zim thought so as well.” The Irken grinned at the auburn haired woman.

“Zim! What are you doing here?” The man asked, his eyes pleading at the Irken as if to say “go away”.

The woman looked between them before giving a small smile and walking off. Zim immediately dropped his pleased look and glared at the man.

“Dib-Thing, you must come with me at once!”

Glancing around his office at his uninterested co-workers, Dib decided to hear the alien out and motioned for him to follow him to the break room. The alien was just not going to quit until he gave him a few moments of his time. He sighed. “Come with me.”

...

"You know Zim isn't even like a normal name right? Like why couldn't you pick something that wouldn't make you suspicious to humans?" Dib asked the alien as he got his bag of chips out of the vending machine.

Zim glared at him. "Zim is a genius at fooling the EarthHumans! NO ONE is suspicious of ZIM!"

The flickering fluorescent lighting above them seemed to paint the break area as more drab than it really was. On most days, Dib really got a kick about relaxing here, sitting in the corner by the massive floor to ceiling windows and watching videos on his phone. He paused as he stared at that corner, realizing that was a ridiculously depressing thought.

Shaking his head, Dib went to sit at the table beside the window, watching as the alien followed suit. Dib glanced up at him, halfway into tearing into his chips, looking irritated. "You're not gonna leave me alone, are you?"

"Nope!" The alien grinned brightly at him, looking very haughty. He reached over and snatched one of the chips from the man's bag causing him to scoff in return.

He munched on a few of the chips, absentmindedly glancing at the clock on the far wall. He had to get back to work soon, his break was almost up.

Zim seemed preoccupied with staring down every other person that so happened to enter the break room, as if giving them a head to toe security check.

Shaking his head, Dib stood and began to quickly exit and head back to his desk, along with Zim now hot on his heels.

"Dib-thing! What are you doing?!" The Irken asked from beside him. He watched him deposit his bag of chips on his desk before checking something on the computer.

Dib gave him a bored side glance, closing out his applications once more and locking his computer. He began very quickly leading Zim away towards the elevator to leave the building. His break would be over soon and he needed the Irken not to be at his place of work causing chaos. "This is called working, Zim. This is my job?" 

"But why do you care about this nonsense instead of what Zim is trying to tell you?"

The elevator doors whooshed open on the ground floor and Dib quickly walked through the turnstiles to lead the alien outside. Zim was, however, temporarily held up by the mechanics of the walking turnstile somehow. The security guard at the desk barely looked up from his book as Dib helped him get through in one piece. It was a good thing their security didn't actually give a shit about their jobs, he supposed.

Once outside, Dib led the alien as far enough away from the building as he could and out in to the parking lot. The gray, cloudy sky above threatened rainfall at any moment and in the back of Dib's mind, he wondered just how on Earth the Irken had got here? Surely, he didn't have a car. Maybe his Voot Cruiser was hidden somewhere in plain sight?

Shaking his head of the thoughts, Dib turned back to the alien with an irritated look on his face. "This is my paycheck, Zim! How do you think I earn money to keep the electricity on or pay the water or... or... keep gas in my car?"

"Car?" Zim echoed the word and it sounded foreign on his tongue. His confused expression said it all.

"Vehicles, ya know... how humans get around?"

"Vehiculars!" Zim nodded, recognition clear on his face.

"Right. Whatever." Dib looked around at the parking lot full of cars and the fact that no one was outside in the middle of the day in their office park. He wearily looked back at Zim, wondering if he were dreaming or if he were really trying to deal with an alien menace from his past. "I gotta go back to work now. Will you just... please leave me alone? I'm busy! I-I can't-"

The Irken interrupted him, after too surveying the parking lot and the numerous office buildings. "Why is THIS the most important thing to you, Dib-Thing? What of the paranormal?"

"It's not... important to me. I-It's how I earn money. A paranormal investigator isn't a real job! I mean, it doesn't pay anything, really. That was just something I wanted to do as a kid, Zim." Dib stared at him like he'd grown a second head or something.

The alien glared back at the man, at how ridiculous he was being with his time now. What was he even talking about? Seeming to consider something then, Zim began eyeing the man up and down.

Dib visibly flinched at the action. "Wh-what? What are you doing?" He asked suspiciously.

Dib was dressed in a bright white dress shirt and some sort of dark pants. He looked... so stiff and oddly the exact opposite of how he'd looked years ago or even the night before. Such a drastic change in cloaking, Zim's eyes narrowed in suspicion. The three black hoops were still in his right ear though. They, along with his glasses, seemed to be the only remnants of the human's appearance from long ago.

Zim crossed his arms over his chest, deciding to try to obtain as much information as he could in the little time that he had. "And what of The-Dib-Father? What does he say of this nonsense? Surely, he can see what an absolute waste of time this is! This... this place! You should be doing science and-"

"He's dead, Zim!" Dib yelled finally, awkwardly looking down and away from the Irken. He hadn't meant to have such an outburst but luckily the parking lot was still barren.

The alien just stared in confusion at the statement, as if he couldn't comprehend.

"He died... like a... a year or so back, okay? So just drop it." Looking visibly upset, Dib quickly looked back at the front entrance to his office building and wished he had a way to just escape this whole conversation. He sighed to himself, not wanting to get into a discussion about family with the alien.

It was then that Zim cocked his head to the side, reminding Dib of some sort of cockerspaniel. "What is this died? Surely, you have the technology to resuscitate him? He does?"

"We don't do that, Zim. I'm not gonna stand here and explain to you human's customs when you of all people wouldn't appreciate them." He said lowly, glaring at the green skinned alien.

Zim decided he would do more research at a later time. For now, he still needed more information and the help of The-Dib. "Dib-thing, shall we use your labs then? If Zim can intercept The Tallest's computers to show you the plan, you will believe Zim, yes?"

"Well, yeah, sure, I gue-"

"Great! Then to the labs!" He announced and began marching away in a vague direction.

"I can't go, Zim." Dib said, sounding more than a little defeated by the whole conversation and extremely exhausted having to think about his father's death, a touchy subject even after almost two years. "I have... you know, work." He motioned back over his shoulder at the large building. The alien wasn't getting it and why would he? He had a spectacularly sparse knowledge about human society. Dib didn't think any of that had improved with his time away.

The Irken was about to begin shouting again when Dib held up his hands. "Look, what if after work you come over and... I dunno, I guess you can use my dad's lab." He shrugged, not really knowing what he was saying and more or less wanting to just get back inside without the alien trying to follow him. He checked his watch and found he had already been out there for ten minutes. It was lucky his boss was on vacation otherwise, he'd be due for a chewing out.

Zim approached him once more, looking him up and down in suspicion, before reaching out a gloved hand to him.

Dib smiled a little and took it to shake but Zim pulled it back in a quick movement and began to laugh triumphantly at some unknown joke.

The alien pointed at him in rapid succession and grinned as Dib slowly struggled to find the humor in it. “So... that's a... a yes?”

“OF COURSE! Zim finds your relenting appeasing. Zim will be at your base at 1700 of your Earth hours.”

“Zim, I don't even get off work until five, how about we say like 7pm?”

“Fine. Zim will be there then.” He turned and began to march off in his exaggerated style as Dib glanced above at the sky once more.

He called out to him. “Zim! Be careful! It's going to rain!”

If the Irken heard him, he didn't stop or turn around and he found himself wondering why he felt the need to even mention it. As he headed back inside the office, he began to feel a gnawing sensation of dread inside him. Why on Earth had he agreed to this?

He hoped he wouldn't regret it.


End file.
